“The effective prayer of the righteous accomplishes much.” So reads James 5:16. Every Christian should have that promise memorized or, at least, internalized. Let’s consider the context…
THE CONTEXT OF PRAYER IS SUFFERING – 5:13-15:
The primary cultural context of the letter of James is “suffering.” The word itself only occurs here and in verse 10. The original word here is a compound word that means to “to suffer evil.”
He begins the letter by talking about the “various trials” that the Christians were experiencing, verses 2-4.
The suffering the Christians were enduring was of two types. First, they were suffering relative to the world persecuting them and mocking them. The world may have even been ignoring Christians – anything they can do to get Christians to be molded into the image of the world.
But, secondly, this persecution was tempting the Christians themselves to also make distinctions among themselves. While the church was still meeting in the Jewish synagogue (2:2 – “assembly” translates the Greek word synagogue), the conflict was not between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians. The conflict was between the wealthy Christians and the poor Christians. This conflict is seen frequently 1:9-10; 2:3, 15-16; 4:1-4; 5:1-6.
All of this discussion takes place in the context of suffering in a sin-sick, selfish world. So in 5:7ff, James encourages the Christians to be patient and not compromise with the world because you can’t wait for God to work. At the very beginning, 1:3, James says that the “testing of our faith produces endurance.” Here in this short paragraph, James returns to the theme of faithfulness and endurance. “Be patient,” he says in verse 7. “Be patient,” (vs 8). Consider the prophets and the patriarch Job as examples of suffering, patience, and endurance (vss 10-11).
So, in the context of all of this discussion about suffering, whether it is in light of the culture or in light of conflicts within the church, the prayer of a righteous man needs to be bathed in patience.
THE EFFECTIVE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN – 5:16-18:
So in this paragraph, at the end of this letter, James emphasizes prayer. The word is found 7 times in these six verses. How important it is for Christians to pray! Apparently James knew something about prayer. The early church historian, Eusebius, writes that James’s knees were as rough as camel’s knees, because he knelt in prayer so often (2:23).
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Before you pray, James advises, you should confess your faults, your sins (vs 16). He has been talking a lot about sin, prejudices, and so forth since the very first paragraph. So, we may suggest that in calling on the Christians to confess their sins, in essence, he is calling for them to repent.
In addition to confessing our sins to one another, James says we should also “pray” for one another. The poor needs to pray for the rich and the rich needs to pray for the poor. The teacher needs to pray for the student and the student needs to pray for the teacher. Pray for each other so that you may be healed. Why?
Because the “effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” If we were to translate this sentence literally, it would read: “Much accomplishes the prayer of the righteous, being effective.”
The point is, God responds to our prayers! We can change how God responds to us through our prayers. God will not violate His nature and He will not violate His will.
But there are many areas of our lives that God can change and alter in a way that is to our benefit. The OT is full of examples of the faithful asking God to respond to their needs and God does. On more than one occasion, because of the sins of the Jews, God said He would wipe out the Jews and start over. But Moses prayed to God on behalf of the Jews and God changed what He decided He would do with them. He ended up just punishing those who were guilty, rather than the whole nation.
God answers prayers! But, please observe that God answers the prayers of the “righteous.” Solomon said in Proverbs 28:9, “He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” And Solomon ought to know! God refused to hear the prayers of King Saul because he had ceased being a righteous man. God told Jeremiah not to pray for Israel because they had stopped being righteous.
How does James define the righteous man? Our prayers need to be offered through a righteous life.
So, James begins his letter by talking about facing trials and how this will produce in us character, endurance, and a strong faith. He ends by encouraging us to help each other live righteous lives, turning away from sin and living in the truth (5:19-20). Through it all, we need to be people of prayer.
The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
–Paul Holland
